Limerick organisers of female only tractor course ‘blown away’ by demand

ORGANISERS of the first female only tractor and machinery skills course in the country have been “overwhelmed by demand”.

It is being run by Salesian Agricultural College, in conjunction with the Women in Agriculture Stakeholders Group (WASG).

The Pallaskenry-based college has always been at the forefront of supporting women in farming, and leading the charge in kindly delivering the two-day course free of charge.

WASG chair Hannah Quinn-Mulligan said they had 20 places and could have filled them a “few times over".

“I knew that there would be demand but the huge level blew me away. The two-day course is designed to help people improve their basic skills and it just goes to show how keen women are to get to grips with machinery.

“This old-fashioned notion that women can't or don't want to know how to drive tractors needs to be thrown out the window, a tractor has no idea if a man or a woman is turning the key in the ignition and both are equally capable to drive on when given the opportunity,” said Ms Quinn-Mulligan, from Croom.

Principal of Salesian Agricultural College, Derek O’Donoghue was equally positive in giving women the opportunity to expand their tractor knowledge:

“Salesian Agricultural College educates for the future. Enhancing the significant contribution that women make to modern day agriculture is something we are proud to be associated with,” said Mr O'Donoghue. The course will be run over two Saturdays this month.

Ms Quinn-Mulligan added that she welcomed confirmation that the Department of Agriculture had acted on their Common Agricultural Policy (CAP) submission policies. She noted that a 60% TAMS grant for women over forty years of age and the option of female only Knowledge Transfer (KT) groups would be available in the next CAP starting in 2023.

“It remains a priority of WASG to push the number of female farmers from 12 to 25% and start reflecting the real contribution of women on farms across the country,” concluded Hannah.

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